Tag: web advertising

Due to issues with privacy and security, Google+ is shutting down in April of 2019.

On November 6, 2018, Google+ users were faced with the exposure of their private profile content. Alphabet Inc, Google’s mother company, revealed that a bug allowed 52 million users’ private information to be compromised and given to outside app developers without the users’ consent.

“Protecting the privacy and security of our users has long been an essential part of our mission,” says Google, Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai. Yet, in October of 2018, there was a similar breach of privacy which also provided outside app developers with Google+ users’ private information, including full names, email addresses, genders, birthdays, photos, places lived, relationship statuses, and occupations. It was after this glitch that Google initially announced the demise of Google+, which was to be terminated in August of 2019. Considering the second privacy violation, the date of termination was moved up four months to April 2019.

So, with all these major changes from Google, which platform(s) are most practical and provide the most security for your company?

Google My Business (GMB) is presumed to be the platform of choice for business owners. GMB is a free tool for businesses to supervise their online presence throughout Google, including Google Search and Google Maps. This platform allows customers to find your business’ location as well as inform them about your business, its hours, and contact information.

Within your GMB account, there is a section called Insights which offers new analytic features. Among these are queries used to find your business, customer actions like visiting your website, making phone calls, and direction requests. The platform also allows business owners to place ads, write posts, upload pictures, and update company information. Another aspect beneficial to business owners is that GMB allows for customers to leave a review of the company and compiles them in an easy-to-read list. These reviews can be responded to by the business owners.

Other Social Media You Should Use for Your Business

Social media is the basis of which most customers are going to learn more about your business. Many companies use various social media platforms to not only connect with their customers but to gain visibility throughout the internet as well. It is most beneficial to your company if you utilize multiple social media outlets to market your business. But which ones are worth it?

LinkedIn is the most professional social media platform and allows businesses to network with other people or companies and draw potential customers or clients to your business. On your company profile, you can share any awards bestowed, your accomplishments, and post in detail about current and past projects. In addition to these features, you can post and share articles, videos, and photos on your newsfeed with your network of connections and followers. You can even develop your own articles using LinkedIn Publishing. Another great aspect of LinkedIn that is ideal for business owners is the ability to list job openings and review applications from potential employees. LinkedIn is a one-stop-shop for all your social media, marketing, and business development needs.

Facebook has specific pages and profiles for companies and business professionals. These provide the business with analytics, ad opportunities, and the ability to post events and updates along with photos and videos. Keeping your clients and customers up to date on all that’s happening with your business has never been easier or more condensed into one outlet. Facebook Messenger also provides more interaction with customers. Messenger allows customers to directly message a business and discuss any questions or concerns they may have.

Instagram is perfect for sharing photos and videos from company events and posting promotional graphics to market your products or services. There is a business profile option which will allow you to connect your email address, phone number and website at the top of your Instagram page. Interaction with customers and clients is extremely simple with Instagram’s comments which, depending on your privacy settings, give anyone the ability to write a comment on a post.

Twitter is another great social media platform for businesses to post last minute updates to their followers about promotions, events, or cancelations due to weather. In addition to these updates, Twitter is also a great source to repost from Facebook and Instagram.

Not sure which social media platform is best for your business? Focus on what your company is providing to the public. If you have a lot of photographs to share with your customers, Instagram is a great option to allow your pictures to highlight your business. If your business hosts a lot of events, consider utilizing Facebook to create ads and invite customers to these events. Additionally, Twitter is great for making quick updates to schedules and keeping in contact with clients. If you still aren’t positive about what platform to use, start with one you are personally using. This way, you already have some experience with the platform and can utilize your prior knowledge to increase your business’ exposure.

You may find that you want to have presence on more than one social media network. Being present in multiple areas will increase your company’s visibility and help you reach more potential customers.

Managing Multiple Social Media Accounts

It may seem as if managing multiple social media accounts can become overwhelming. However, there is no need to fret. There are terrific software programs that help consolidate all your social media accounts in one space. Among these are Hootsuite and Buffer.

Hootsuite integrates multiple types of social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter into one interface. Other sites such as YouTube, LinkedIn, and WordPress blogs can be incorporated. If you have multiple businesses or organizations you manage, you may add these organizations along with all their respective social media accounts. Buffer is very similar. You can include multiple organizations as well, and each may have multiple social media accounts. Among those covered are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

These integrations are wonderful because they provide you with the ability to create a singular post and share it on all your social media platforms with just a few clicks. You can also schedule your posts to go out at a later date or time, even months in advance! Both Hootsuite and Buffer provide analytics and the ability to respond to all your comments within the same window.

When it comes to choosing which social media management software is best for your business, it is best to research each software to find one that fits your needs and budget. For further information please contact us at 1-855-PRMG-123 or email us at info@theprmg.com.

Facebook has numerous features to its advertising to make it even easier to attract potential customers. The most popular advertisement Facebook offers, the local awareness advertisement, was created by Facebook to help local businesses target people within a given radius as small as one mile. This is designed to increase the number of local visitors to your location, ultimately generating more business and to present new business opportunities. Continue reading “Target Local Customers with Facebook for Business”

The most prosperous time of year is approaching: the fourth financial quarter and the holiday season. How can your business capitalize from the holiday rush? Start planning your holiday marketing efforts now! Use your business’ social media sites, online marketing, and public relations efforts to build a comprehensive holiday marketing plan. Continue reading “Start Planning Your Holiday Marketing”

When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), keywords are extremely important. Keywords are the words or short phrases that Internet users type into a search engine when looking for a website, business, service or product. In regards to SEO, search engines use keywords when analyzing and prioritizing websites. By including strong keywords in the content of your website, the meta tags, ALT tags, your domain name and each individual page name, your search engine rankings will dramatically improve. Apart from SEO purposes, keywords should also be used in blog entries and your Web advertising campaigns. This article will explain how to choose keywords that will boost your business’ online visibility and bring you higher conversion rates.

Know Your Target Audience — Before determining which keywords to use, you must know exactly what your target audience is most interested in. Your keywords should consist of words or phrases that potential customers are most likely to use when searching for your business, service or website. Ask yourself: what would my potential customers most likely enter into a search engine? Once you are familiar with your audience’s needs and mindset, you can begin compiling a list of potential keywords.

Brainstorm— Come up with a list of potential words and phrases that your target audience might use to find your business online. The goal is to show up as high as possible in search engine results when people search using these keywords. Generate a list of words or short phrases that relate to what your website is trying to promote, sell or offer to your target audience. Try to stay away from very popular keywords because the more competition there is for a keyword, the harder it is to rank high for it. You can narrow your keyword phrases by adding a location or town. Also, rather than repeating the same keyword over and over again in your Web copy, it’s best to use the keyword’s synonyms. This way, your content will be more interesting for readers and Google won’t mark you as a keyword abuser.

Use Keyword Tools— There are plenty of tools on the Web that will help you determine the monthly activity or popularity of potential keywords. For example, try using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. This useful tool can help you get keyword ideas for your overall list and, more specifically, for your Web advertising campaigns. Through this keyword tool, you can find keywords based on your website’s content and also identify negative keywords. Here are several other keyword tools available on the Web:

Keep an Eye on Your Competition— By taking a look at your competitors’ meta tags, you can see which keywords they are using and get an idea of which words and phrases are most common in your industry. By using programs such as Web CEO, you can measure how well you, and your competitors, come up in search engines and, essentially, how easily potential customers are able to find your website. You can also try entering one of your desired keywords into a popular search engine to see which websites show up the highest for this word. While you are aiming for keywords that your target audience is most likely to use, you also want keywords that don’t have as much competition. If you can find a balance of strong keywords and less competition, you will have a better conversion rate.

Adapt When Necessary — Over time, keep track of words and search phrases to determine which keywords you should keep and which you should remove. If you find that some of these words are no longer relevant, opt for different ones and monitor what works and what doesn’t.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is absolutely critical to modern marketing. With millions of new Web pages flooding the Internet every day, search engines are forced to sift through the clutter and develop a ranking system to prioritize websites. In the most basic sense, SEO is everything that helps your business get ranked higher and receive optimal exposure from these search engines. This is so important because your position on organic search engine results correlates with the number of leads generated by your website. For those who are new to SEO, this article will explain the most important factors that affect these rankings.

Content — Compelling content is perhaps the most important and influential factor of search engine optimization. Every Web page you create should contain unique content that is fresh and relevant to your industry and keywords. Strong content is quickly picked up by the major search engines and pushed to the top of the search results. When writing your Web copy, see if you’ve answered the needs of your customers or clients. What kind of content are they looking for? Depending on your industry, you may offer guidebooks, downloads, a FAQ section, multimedia and other pages that are of value to your audience. It’s also important to ask yourself (even if your content meets the needs of your audience): What makes your website stand out from those of similar organizations? The more valuable and unique your website, the more traffic it will receive. For more information on the importance of content and how you can create better content, please see our article, “Why Quality Content Reigns Supreme.”

Your Web Page Must be Crawlable — In order to build traffic, your website must allow search engines to easily “crawl,” or access and index, the information on your site. If your content cannot be crawled, it won’t be ranked or indexed by search engines. To ensure that your website is crawlable, use search engine-friendly CSS code, include a simple and clean navigation, use text links and incorporate a keyword-rich URL structure. Once your website has been fully optimized, crawled and indexed, it will be much easier to attract organic traffic from Google and other major search engines.

On-page SEO — On-page SEO refers to all of the production requirements on the specific individual pages you are trying to rank. When developing your Web presence, make sure that every page is fully optimized since it’s possible that individual pages of your website will rank higher than your homepage. Start out with a strong, well-thought-out design, incorporate a frequent updating strategy and pick a domain name with potential keywords in it. It’s also important to name your individual Web pages using keywords. For example: www.yourcompany.com/keyword1-keyword2.html. Use proper programming and avoid “black hat” methods to prevent blacklisting by Google and other search engines. These black hat methods include repeating the keyword in your content too often, having duplicate websites and registering many domains and interlinking them all. For more in-depth information on on-page optimization tips and techniques, please see our article, “On-Page Optimization and Keywords.”

Relevance — Your website and individual Web pages must be a close match to the term that is being searched. To boost your site’s relevance in the eyes of popular search engines, make sure that every title, header, link, graphic name and page on your website is somehow relevant and connected to your subject and desired keywords.

Off-page SEO — Off-page SEO refers to the external aspects which attribute to rankings, or everything that happens off your website that builds traffic and leads to higher search engine ranking. The most important factors to consider are the external pages linking to your website and the level of authority these pages have. For example, submitting your website to popular Web directories and social bookmarking websites that have high authority will benefit your overall SEO. For more detailed information about off-page optimization and long-term strategies to improve your SEO, please read our article, “No, We Can’t Get You Those Results Overnight.” An important factor of off-page optimization is the level of authority given to your Web page. The more authority your Web page has, the more likely it will rank high for certain keywords. To maximize your authority, secure as many backlinks as possible from as many high-authority sites as possible. Since authority is an aspect of link-building, you can build authority on the Web by utilizing off-page optimization methods such as submitting your site to Web directories, using social bookmarking websites, blogging regularly and other techniques to engage users with your content and drive traffic and legitimate backlinks to your website.

Link Building — Link building is critical to enhancing your SEO and attracting people to your website. Backlinks are so important to SEO because some major search engines, such as Google, will give more credit to websites that have a high number of quality backlinks. This doesn’t mean buying links or using link farms — backlinks should only be coming from credible sources. For example, backlinks from websites such as Google, YouTube and free submission websites are given more authority and link value. The four major factors that affect link value are:

Whether It Is a No-Follow or Do-Follow Link — Focus on obtaining do-follow links, which contain a special HTML Markup that notifies the major search engines to follow the destination inside the link. Always avoid link farms since these can actually hurt your search engine ranking.

The Authority of the Page Your Link Appears On — The higher the authority of the page your link appears on, the more SEO credit your backlink will hold.

The Number of Other Links on the Page Linking to You — The more links on one page, the less SEO credit each link possesses.

The Anchor Text of a Link — Links that have desired keywords in the anchor text (the clickable text in a hyperlink) are the most valuable to you, in terms of ranking for those keywords.

The Internet offers countless opportunities for building your professional network and generating leads for your business. Especially for those on a tight budget, it’s important to focus on making the most of lead generation tools and techniques that are readily available on the Web. This article will provide you with ten simple ways you can generate leads online for your business.

Send Out Monthly E-newsletters — Email marketing is hugely effective when it comes to converting leads into customers over time. To maximize your email marketing efforts, it’s essential to keep in touch with your audience using an e-newsletter. Your e-newsletter should contain valuable, timely and relevant content that is intended to keep your audience interested in your organization and what services or products you offer. For more information on writing and distributing e-newsletters, please see our article, “Why Your Business Needs an E-newsletter.”

Offer Free Content in Exchange for Contact Information — By offering valuable content such as guidebooks, e-books and other free downloads on your website and in your advertising, people will be more likely to give up their contact information. Even if it’s just a name and email address, this information is essential to generating leads and future customers or clients. Over time, engaging these leads with credible, valuable content can lead to long-term buying relationships.

Host Webinars — Webinars are online seminars offered by a company to replace an in-person business conference, lecture or presentation. When people want to attend your webinar, they’ll have to enter their name, email address and other contact information, if necessary. This is excellent for businesses because, for every webinar participant, you’ll gain a new lead and a potential customer. The stronger your presentation is, and the better you promote your upcoming webinar, the more leads you will generate.

Advertise Using Pay-Per-Clicks — Pay-per-click advertising is an excellent way to generate qualified leads. Pay-per-click advertising outlets, such as Google AdWords, allow businesses to market to people who are already actively searching for their products or services. Users who click on your ad will be delivered to a custom landing page where they can enter their contact information in exchange for the content or service that was advertised. For more information on pay-per-click advertising, please see our articles, “Interest-Based Advertising,” “A Beginner’s Guide to Google AdWords,” and “An In-Depth Look into Google AdWords.”

Create Effective Landing Pages — A landing page is a single Web page that appears in response to a reader clicking on an advertisement. Landing pages are often linked from social media ads, email ad campaigns or pay-per-click ad campaigns. Landing pages should include brief descriptions of the downloadable content and services your business offers, as well as an image of the content and a short form for contact information. A well-designed landing page is essential for generating qualified leads for your business. Marketers can even measure the effectiveness of a landing page by analyzing the activity generated by the linked URL, such as click-through and conversion rates. For more information on creating effective landing pages, please see our article, “Five Steps to Generating New Business through Web Advertising, Landing Pages and Emails.”

Submit Your Website to Web Directories — Web directories provide valuable backlinks that will improve your business’ visibility and search engine optimization. By listing your business in accurate categories, people who are already looking for information regarding your industry or service will be directed to your website, making them more qualified and targeted leads. For more information on free Web directories and other submission sites that offer backlinks, please see our article, “Why You Should Take Advantage of Free Submission Websites.”

Distribute Press Releases Online — Every time you distribute your press release online, that site will provide backlinks to your main website. This will further direct interested readers directly to your business. Keep in mind that, for SEO purposes, it is vital to distribute press releases that are optimized for your target keywords. For more information on press releases, please see our article, “5 Tips for Writing Effective Press Releases.”

Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile — When used properly, LinkedIn can be a great tool for business networking, developing professional relationships and generating strong leads. For B2B companies, LinkedIn is the ultimate social networking site. The first step is to make sure that your profile is as close to 100% complete as possible. Next, it’s important to boost your visibility and credibility on LinkedIn by contributing to group discussions on the “Discussions” and “Answers” boards. For more information on LinkedIn, please see our article, “Making the Right Connections with LinkedIn.”

Share Documents, Slideshows and Presentations — By sharing your presentations or slideshows on the Web, you can not only boost the credibility and popularity of your business online, but you will secure valuable backlinks to your website. Websites such as Scribd and SlideShare not only rank high with major search engines, but they provide backlinks to lead readers directly to your main website.

Maintain an Active Blog — According to a study done by KBK Communications, B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads than those who do not. Blogging is essential to any successful marketing and communications strategy, especially in regards to lead generation. Include a clear section for readers to subscribe to your blog via email or an RSS feed. For more information on blogging, please see our article, “Should My Business Have a Blog?”

As Twitter continues to unveil a brand-new design and special features, there are more opportunities for businesses to benefit from this immensely popular microblogging site. Using the geography and selected interests of users, Twitter is able to target tweets, trends and profiles to an interested and relevant audience. The three advertising outlets on Twitter are Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends and Promoted Accounts.

Promoted Tweets — Promoted Tweets appear the same as regular tweets, except that they are marked as “promoted” and can be targeted to Twitter search results or to users’ timelines. Another bonus is that Twitter’s geographic targeting increases the relevance of your message based on the user’s location.

Promoted Tweets in Timelines — Twitter also takes users’ interests into consideration when placing Promoted Tweets in timelines. When a user first creates an account on Twitter, they are asked to indicate topics that they are most interested in. After they click on a topic such as “Business” or “Travel,” for example, Twitter will present them with users who are most related to this interest. In short, when Twitter is placing a Promoted Tweet, it takes into consideration the user’s location, interests and what similar profiles they are following. This way, Twitter can better ensure that Promoted Tweets are reaching the right audience. For example, one Promoted Tweet that appeared in the newsfeed of The PRMG’sTwitter account was a tweet from Branders.com that read “Special clearance sale to all our followers until supplies last.” This business offers products that you can put your name or logo on, so it would make sense that the Promoted Tweet would appear to a user who indicated an interest in “Business” and followed several users in this field.

Promoted Tweets in Search — When users search for their interests on Twitter, Promoted Tweets that are targeted to search terms will appear at the top of the results page.

Promoted Trends — Businesses can use Promoted Trends to insert their message surrounding a topic, brand or product beside popular trends. On Twitter, “Trends” refer to viral conversations surrounding the most popular topics at any given time. By being featured in the Trends section, next to a user’s timeline, businesses can amplify their message and reach a much wider audience.

Promoted Accounts — Promoted Accounts are featured in search results and within the “Who to Follow” section on Twitter, based on what users have identified as interests. This section identifies and recommends relevant accounts for users to follow, helping them discover new businesses, content and people on Twitter. These campaigns can be geo-targeted to ensure that they reach the right audience.

How Much Does it Cost? — When you submit your request to advertise on Twitter here, you will be asked to submit your estimated monthly budget. The options are $5,000-$9,999, $10,000-$24,999, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$99,999 and over $100,000. After you set your budget, Promoted Tweets are billed at a Cost-per-Engagement (CPE) rate. This means that you pay your bid price when a user clicks on, retweets, replies to or favorites your Promoted Tweet. Promoted Trends, on the other hand, are offered for a flat fee in the high tens of thousands of dollars per day. These are very exclusive, since your chosen trend will appear at the top of every Twitter user’s Trending Topics list. Lastly, Promoted Accounts are offered on a Cost-per-Follow (CPF) basis. For example, your business may bid a few dollars to have your account promoted at the top of a Twitter user’s “Who to Follow” list.

Google AdWords is so unique and beloved by marketers because it gives businesses the ability to advertise to an audience that is already interested in the products or services they offer. Using Google AdWords, you are put in complete control of how much you want to spend, when you want your ads to appear and where you want them to appear. Through its various components and special features, Google AdWords allows you to better target potential customers and clients without wasting money in the process.

Google is made up of two components: The Search Network and The Display Network. This article will provide you with an overview of these two networks, the different types of ads available through AdWords and an overview of AdWords Express.

What is Google AdWords? — For a more beginner-friendly analysis of Google AdWords, read our article, “A Beginner’s Guide to Google AdWords.” In this article, we discussed the basics of one of Google’s most effective, simple and budget-friendly forms of Web advertising available today: Google AdWords. Through Google AdWords, you can create pay-per-click (PPC) ads that can target users based on their location and keywords that you can select through bidding for certain search phrases. You can also incorporate “Ad Extensions” to help users easily find out more about your business and its offerings. Ad extensions expand text ads with one or more lines that provide additional information such as an address, phone number, page links and product images. When users click on your ad, they will be directed either to your website or a landing page. For tips on creating successful landing pages, you can download our free guide, “Five Steps to Generating New Business through Web Advertising, Landing Pages and Emails.”

To begin using Google AdWords, you must first decide to use either the Search Network or Display Network. The next step is to decide on a format for your ad, depending on which network you choose.

Search Network — The Search Network on Google AdWords provides an excellent way to reach your target audience on their personal computers, tablets, mobile phones and any other electronic devices used to find information. The Search Network allows users to advertise within the Google search engine or with search partners who allow advertising on their websites. For example, AOL.com and Ask.com are two of Google’s popular search partners. Advertising on Google’s Search Network allows you to target users depending on what keywords they use in their search queries. Your ad will appear in the “sponsored links” section, above the main search results, or on the right side of the screen when someone searches on Google using one of your desired keywords. If you are unsure of what keywords will work best with your ad, you can try using the Google Keyword Tool. By entering one keyword or phrase into this tool, you can see what related word searches your ad will show up on. One thing to keep in mind is that, unlike on the Display Network, you can only run text ads on the Search Network.

WAP Mobile Ads — While more and more people use smart phones when searching for information about local businesses or services, Mobile Ads may be the right fit for your business. WAP mobile ads are a format of AdWords ads that appear on WAP mobile websites, and are available as either text or image ads. With Google Mobile Ads, you can connect with your customers on their mobile phones by reaching out to targeted audiences across top websites and apps. When mobile users click on your ad, they will be send to your mobile webpage. One question to ask is whether or not your website is optimized for mobile devices. To see how your site looks on a mobile device, you can use the “GoMoMeter” tool at howtogomo.com. This site will also provide you with recommendations for creating a mobile-friendly experience for your business’ website. To create a WAP mobile ad, simply sign in to your AdWords account, navigate to the “Ads” tab at the ad group level, click the “New ad” link and choose “WAP Mobile Ad.”

Display Network — Using the Google Display Network on Google AdWords, you can reach users from all over the Web and choose from text, image and video formats to communicate your message to highly targeted audiences. The Display Network gives users the opportunity to run their ads on a gigantic network of websites that have Google AdSense enabled. For example, your ad may appear on a blog, online newspaper or a website that is relevant to what products or services your business has to offer. The Display Network offers lower costs, easier ad approval and a variety of formats for your advertisements. With the Display Network, as well as with every Google AdWords campaign, it is essential to keep an eye on your budget to monitor your spending. Another tip is to run one ad campaign on the Display Network and a second campaign on the Search Network. This will help you determine which network is more appropriate and successful for your business.

Image Ads — Image ads are graphical ads that are available on Display Network websites. Image ads contain graphics that can be matched to a page’s content to ensure that they are reaching your selected target audience. You can run image ads in both keyword-targeted and placement-targeted campaigns. To learn how to create an image ad, simply sign in to your AdWords account, click the name of the desired campaign, choose the Display Network and begin creating your ad by following the simple instructions here.

Video Ads — On the Google Display Network, you can promote your business’ video ads on the websites where your customers are most likely to spend their time. These click-to-play (CTP) Video Ads provide a valuable and engaging experience for viewers without being too intrusive. Video ads should be visually appealing, interesting and no longer than 30 seconds. Google also offers the option to play video ads on YouTube, using the “Promoted Videos” feature. Based on a list of keywords, your video ad will come up when viewers search for, discover and watch videos on YouTube. For example, someone watching a video of a piano tutorial may be presented with an advertisement for your music classes. Advertising on YouTube, the Web’s video-sharing superpower, will help you reach more customers and boost your video’s view count. Best of all, you will only be charged when someone watches your video.

TV Ads — Using Google TV Ads, you can target audiences on more than 100 national television channels such as ESPN, TNT and CNN, with the potential of reaching up to 35 million U.S. households. To get started with Google TV Ads, you must already have an AdWords account. Next, you can set your budget to determine how much exposure your ads will receive and what your maximum cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) will be. One thing to keep in mind is that there is no minimum budget requirement on Google TV Ads, but campaign budgets should be set strategically in order for ads to make the greatest impact with your audience. Next, you can target audiences by choosing to advertise on relevant programs, times of day or networks. The final step is to simply upload your ad and launch your campaign. If you already have a television ad, simply upload it with the AdWords tool. If not, you can use the Ad Creation Marketplace to make a new television commercial. After you’ve submitted your ad, Google will check to make sure that it complies with the technical specifications and policies of Google and its TV partners. If your ad has been approved, it will be ready to run on national television. Using the online functionality of Google TV Ads, you can track results, adjust your campaign and measure performance and ROI.

AdWords Express — The easiest way to kick off your Web advertising efforts is to take advantage of AdWords Express. Google’s new tool, AdWords Express, helps businesses promote themselves on Google Search, Google Maps and mobile devices. AdWords Express is the simplest way to advertise on Google. Creating your ad takes only a few minutes and then everything else is managed automatically by Google. After your ad campaign is running, it works just like the traditional AdWords tool. When people search in your area for the products or services that your business provides, your ad will appear above or beside their search results. Because of its simplicity and convenience, AdWords Express is perfect for local businesses that are looking to reach new customers but don’t have the time to manage an advertising campaign.

Google AdWords is one of the most effective, simple and budget-friendly forms of Web advertising available today. Taking advantage of Google AdWords can really help you make the most of your business’ advertising efforts. This form of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising targets users based on their location and your selected keywords, as well as other factors. These advertisements are so effective because Google AdWords allows you to reach people who are already looking for your products and services. Your ad will appear in the “sponsored links” section above the main search results or on the right side of the screen when someone searches on Google using one of your selected keywords. Users can then click on your ad to either make a purchase or learn more about you. In addition to text ads, you can also run display and click-to-play (CTP) video ads. Incorporating Google AdWords into your advertising strategy can drive more traffic to your website, maximize the effectiveness and reach of your advertisements and subsequently generate more leads. This article will help you get started with Google AdWords, choose the right keywords, determine your budget, create powerful advertisements and measure your performance.

1. Get Started — Once you are familiar with how Google AdWords works, choose a username and create your own AdWords account. Once your account is verified and active, you are free to begin. However, always set aside plenty of time for planning before starting any advertising campaign. It is crucial to determine who your target audience is before you create any ads. This is so important because on Google AdWords, you can target users by their location and related keywords. Using the Google Display Network on Google AdWords, you can reach users all over the Web and choose from text, image and video formats to communicate your message to highly targeted audiences. Once you create an ad, it is targeted automatically based on the themes in your keyword list or location you choose. Your ads can also be targeted manually, matching the specific placements you select, or based on the specific audiences you want to reach. For example, if your business is a restaurant and you are targeting people searching for food in a particular city, use regional targeting.

2. Choose the Right Keywords — Choosing the right keywords is essential to any Web advertising success. Before you create your ads, it is important to determine which words or phrases are most related to your business. It is essential that your keywords are relevant, high-quality and not overly general. They must directly relate to the theme of your advertisement and the page you are directing your potential customers to. A tip is to use phrases that are two or three words long. Selecting the right keywords will improve the performance of your ads and ensure that you are reaching the people who would be most interested in what your business has to offer.

3. Determine Your Budget— On Google AdWords, the amount you pay for advertising is entirely up to you. One of the main reasons why Google AdWords is so popular is because you are put in complete control of your spending. You can set a maximum cost-per-click (CPC) and decide on a daily budget. For example, you can set a daily budget of $10 or decide on a maximum cost of $15 cents for each click on your ad. This cost flexibility makes AdWords perfect for those on a budget. Which keywords you choose can also have an impact on how much you will pay. Each of your desired keywords can have a bid amount specifying the maximum amount you are willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad. If your main keywords have high competition, you will pay more because the highest bid for a keyword gets the first place. However, especially for those who are just starting out with Google AdWords, we recommend using automatic bidding. With automatic bidding, you can set a 30-day budget and not have to worry about specifying individual bids for ad groups, keywords and ad placements. Google AdWords will set your bids for you with the goal of bringing you the most clicks possible within your budget.

4. Create Powerful Ads — If you are using text-based ads on Google AdWords, the content of your advertisement is the most important factor in reaching potential customers. The more powerful and compelling an advertisement is, the more likely people will be to click on it. Each ad is comprised of a headline, two lines of text, a display URL and a destination URL. Your headline will act as a link to your website and it should relate directly to your chosen keywords. The following text should convey the most important information about your product, service or organization. Since space is limited, it is essential for your message to be compelling, concise and descriptive. You can also help potential customers or clients find you by including your business address with textual ads. The display URL, which appears in green, will display the website that you are promoting and the destination URL is not visible because it is the exact page within your website where users are being directed.

However, text-based advertisements are not the only options available to you on Google AdWords. Using the Display Network, you can choose from text ads, image ads and video ads. Click-to-play (CTP) video ads provide a rich and engaging experience for users using visuals to enhance your advertising message. You can also choose to create image ads, which combine graphics and proven AdWords targeting technology. Before you create video or image ads, your campaign must be set to show ads on the Display Network.

5. Measure Your Performance — Periodically measuring your progress is important because once you know when and where your advertisement is most effective, you can adjust your targeting and bidding strategy. On Google AdWords, you can set up performance metrics in the “Campaigns” tab within your AdWords account. Here, you can see keyword metrics and view-through conversion reports that provide insight into the effectiveness of your ads on the Google Display Network. You can also use the Placement Performance Report to optimize your ad placements and improve the performance of your ads that have appeared on sites within the Display Network. This tool allows you to target more aggressively on Google as well as other well-performing search partners such AOL, CompuServe and Netscape. If necessary, adjust your ads, keywords and ad placement until you are satisfied with your results.

As always, if you would like further information or help with creating a Google AdWords campaign for your organization, please contact The Public Relations and Marketing Group at (631) 207-1057 or johnzaher@theprmg.com.

I thought it might be helpful to revisit an article I wrote on the “Top 10 Tips for Marketing in a Recession” in January of 2009. While many of the suggestions still apply and I remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for the U.S. economy, I believe that the economy of today is the new normal in the face of a number of economic hurdles, including high unemployment, international financial unrest and a depression in the real estate market. It is my personal opinion that things won’t change significantly, at least until business confidence can be restored with the election of a new President and Congress in the Fall of 2012. These recommendations suggest that while it is necessary to market, you must do so with the idea of slowly maintaining and growing your business, while continuing to overcome a myriad of external challenges.

Starting a Business in a Recession — If you are thinking about starting a new business in a recession, you are not alone. Small businesses are often the greatest generators of new jobs. This is one of the reasons why the unemployment rate remains high in the United States. Often, when people are laid off, they take the opportunity to start their own business. However, think hard before you start a business, especially if it is a restaurant or a retailer. For example, the highly competitive restaurant industry sees 27% of restaurant startups fail within the first year, according to a 10-year study by Cornell University and Michigan State University. If you are looking to open a restaurant or retailer, make sure that your business will be unique and that you are confident that there will be a demand for your product or services. Think along the lines of necessities, including health care or products like coffee. For example, think of the Dunkin Donuts and 7-Eleven franchises. Another essential point to keep in mind is that before you start your new business, you must set aside plenty of money for marketing. For more information on this, read our article, “If You Build It, They Won’t Necessarily Come…”

One of the first overall suggestions I can make is that when choosing whether or not to start a business in a recession, you must identify what the most profitable businesses are and which ones can give you the most competitive advantage. In a recession, consumers require value more than ever. Just look at Walmart, Target and McDonalds. These companies have done relatively well during the recession because of the value they offer consumers. However, there is an exception with high end luxury markets. Although these markets did take a hit early in the recession as real estate values and stock market portfolios declined, they did bounce back. If you can effectively market to wealthier geographies and demographics, you should do so. If your product is a necessity, for consumers or for businesses, then say it is and why it is. For example, Apple did very well during the recession because consumers viewed their products as necessities. Also, if you have products that appeal to children, then make sure you market them effectively. Parents will be more likely to self-sacrifice than to deprive their children, especially when it comes to their education, health and development.

1. Focus on Your Customers — If you already have a business or non-profit organization, focus on your current customers and clients. Continue to do what you can to keep your current customers returning and always make sure they are satisfied. If you are a retailer or restaurant, send your customers a gift card or special offer to show your appreciation. If you are a professional, hold the line on your rates, provide volume discounting or some other type of acknowledgement of their patronage. From a marketing perspective, you should periodically send your clients e-newsletters, newsletters, use direct mail and engage them in social media to communicate special offers or news to keep them in the loop. Your next step in marketing your current business should be to focus on your website because this is the online hub of information and content for your organization.

2. Develop Your Website — Since you may have extra time now, it is time to focus on your website. Ask yourself: What do I need to do to get higher search engine rankings? The answer is to make sure you have a strong public relations and content creation program, develop your website’s on-page optimization and utilize off-page optimization techniques. For more information on on-page optimization, read our article, “On-page Optimization and Keywords.” For off-page optimization tips, read our article, “No, We Can’t Get You Those Results Overnight.” One tip is to incorporate microsites into your Web strategy. Microsites are essential to maximizing your Web presence and boosting your organization’s search engine rankings. Consider building microsites for specific products or services that your company offers. To compliment your website, you may also decide to create a blog. You may need some development help, but once your blog is created and your new sites are set up, you can use your CMS system or Adobe Contribute for sites created in HTML to make changes yourself. The goal for your blog should be to develop excellent content that will compel visitors to return and share with others. We highly recommend providing downloadable content on your site that visitors will be willing to give up an email address or other contact information for.

3. Build Your Social Media Presence — It is crucial to share your content and communicate with your audience on appropriate social media platforms. Communicating with friends and followers through social media will help build your networks and engage your current customers. If you’re just starting out with social media, focus on the big three: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If your business is B2C, focus your efforts more on Facebook and Twitter. For B2B companies, LinkedIn should be your first priority. Developing a strong presence on social media websites does require time but it can prove to be an extremely cost-effective way to market your business, which is especially helpful during rough economic times. For example, create a Facebook fan page for your company to communicate with customers and share photos and news. Twitter, the immensely popular micro-blogging network, is an excellent communication outlet to send short messages to a huge audience. LinkedIn is a professional networking site that allows users to rapidly build their connections, browse and post job offerings and share industry expertise with other professionals in their field. Determine which of these social networking sites you should devote your time to and build a strong presence there.

4. Network — Old-fashioned networking may also help you build professional contacts and reach potential clients at low cost. If you are a professional, attend networking events in your industry and other trade groups where you may find prospective clients. To demonstrate your position as an expert in your field, professionals can hold original lectures, in-house if possible, to keep costs lower. Retailers and restaurants can hold product demonstrations or workshops. Always promote these events to the public using press releases, social media and e-blasts.

Everything up to this point can be done at low cost. However, often this may not be enough and you will also need to advertise to successfully market your business. In a recession, it is often cheaper to advertise and you may have more leverage. However, always keep in mind that you should never advertise in something solely because it is cheap or within your budget. It is always better to spend more on something that is more likely to work for you. For example, your organization may benefit from targeted ads placed in print outlets, on the Web, through email or on television.

5. Focus Your Print Advertising — When using traditional print advertising outlets, make sure that you have the budget to sustain your advertising efforts. If you have a local business, consider using D-Cards and high visibility print ads. To ensure that your advertisements are reaching the right audience, micro-target your ads by placing them in specialty publications. For example, you may want to target a local community by using the front pages of Pennysavers or local newspapers, as well as D-Cards. If your services or products appeal to a specific trade group or demographic, consider specialty publications that service that group. If you need to advertise in a daily newspaper, be sure to put together a catchy ad that is in a high visibility location. In addition, Newsday’s daily deals are often good for retailers and those in the hospitality industry.

6. Target Your Web Advertising — For those on a budget, I would strongly recommend using Web advertising. As studies repeatedly show, more and more people are turning to online sources when searching for products, services or information. This is why Web advertising is so important when marketing your business. Popular Web advertising outlets include Google AdWords, social media ads, landing pages and daily deal websites.

7. Use Google AdWords — Google AdWords lets you create and run text, display or video ads for your business with a custom budget. This is good for marketers on a budget because you will only pay if someone clicks on your advertisement. These ads are displayed under “Sponsored Links” beside search results when someone searches Google using one of your listed keywords. Google AdWords is so effective because you are advertising to an audience who is already interested in what you have to offer.

8. Advertise with Social Media — Social media websites offer highly quantifiable and cost-effective advertisements. Like Google AdWords, you will only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Through social media advertising, you can control your budget, build fans, drive traffic to your website and micro-target based on user demographics, gender, age and interests. For B2C companies, use Facebook Ads to reach your audience. Facebook is able to micro-target based on what users have listed as interests. For B2B organizations, LinkedIn advertising can be effective. LinkedIn offers rich display and text ads that can reach millions of active business professionals. LinkedIn advertising is unique because it can target based on job title.
To learn more about Facebook advertising, read our article, “Interest-Based Advertising.”

9. Create Landing Pages — A landing page is a single Web page that appears in response to a reader clicking on an advertisement. A landing page is little more than a Web page that contains specific content and can be used as part of an effective Web advertising campaign. When used in a Web advertising campaign, landing pages should provide access to your entire website but the goal here is for the visitor to interact with the content on the page. By offering downloadable content, you provide your audience valuable material in exchange for their contact information. This will help you generate business leads and build your email lists. For more information on landing pages, read our article, “Five Steps to Generating New Business through Web Advertising, Landing Pages and Emails.”

10. Use Daily Deals Websites — Daily deals websites and phone applications are immensely popular, especially for those with smart phones. These websites and phone apps cater to a vast audience that is interested in obtaining new deals and visiting new venues. Daily deal marketing services such as Groupon and LivingSocial collect users’ email addresses and send them a featured email every day, offering a heavily discounted deal from a local business. Recipients may buy the coupon, redeem it at the local business and get the product or service they paid for. For example, on Groupon, you and the daily deal site will split the revenues from coupon sales and you will pay nothing upfront to Groupon. Running ad campaigns on sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial can prove to be hugely beneficial in attracting customers to your business, especially if you are in the restaurant or hospitality industry or offer some kind of service to your guests.

11. Use Take-Over Emails — Your business can benefit by using take-over emails in your email advertising strategy. Take-over emails allow you to take advantage of another organization’s broad email list. For example, Newsday and other publications offer take-over emails for $50 per thousand, meaning they will send out your email for you to their audience. When creating your email advertisement, make sure that the most important information appears at the top, under the fold of the email, and that you have a compelling title that will encourage your readers to read more. Include links to landing pages, your website, social media profiles and contact information.
To learn more about email advertising and take-over emails, read our article, “Web Ads, E-newsletters and Take-over Emails.”

12. Advertise on Television — Sometimes, you may need to reach large numbers of people in a short time frame. Under these circumstances, I would highly recommend considering television advertising. When advertising on television, it is important to narrow your target audience by using specific programming. Consider upcomers like FiOS, for example. If you are looking to reach businesspeople or wealthier viewers, consider advertising on CNBC or news channels. If your business’ product or service is catered to women, choose to advertise on channels such as Lifetime, WE or HGTV.